You are a white police chief who works for the City of Detroit, Michigan. Although you work for the city, you reside on the suburbs in a middle class development. You patrol the streets of Detroit day in and day out...home of violence, gang-related issues, and a majority population of African-Americans. Most citizens in the community have not received education, barely have any money due to job opportunities being slim, and may even be living on the streets. Day to day as you are patrolling the area you observe violence in youth citizens, drug dealing on the streets, robbery and theft, and young children roaming the streets at all hours of the night.
You remember a passage in RDJS about black privelege and racism that sits in the back of your mind as you get into your police car for another night of patrolling the streets of Detroit:
"The impact of racism begins early. Even in our preschool years, we are exposed to misinformation about people different from ourselves. Many of us grew up in neighborhoods where we had limited opportunities to interact with people different from our own families." (RDSJ, page 65, Defining Racism)
You try to remind yourself of the passage in your book from college to stay grounded and well informed on racism and privledge. You read quotes from the passage every night before going to work in a community where you are seen as privleged and everyone around you is being oppressed in some type of way.
Tonight, as you are driving down an alley to cut to the other side of the downtown strip, you see a man with his hood up walking in the direction that your vehicle is heading. As you approach the man you see that he is young, black, and avoiding making eye contact with your car. You look at the clock on your car and notice that it is 2:30 in the morning. How do you approach this situation?
[[Flash your lights and demand the young man stop walking towards your car, also demand that he place his hands above his head.]]
[[Stop your car in the middle of the road in front of the young man and get out of the vehicle with your hand on your waist over your gun.]]
[[Keep driving, pull up to the young man, and ask him where he is heading too.]]
Afer you demand the young man put his hands over his head, without his compliance, you step out of the vehicle with your hand on your gun. As you walk towards the young man you notice tha the has his hands in his pockets, you demand he take his hands out of his pockets but he refuses to do so claiming that it is "too cold." What do you do now?
[[Pull your gun and demand he take his hands out of his pockets]]
[[Ask him to take his hands out of his pockets one more time, and inform him that if he doesnt, you will have to cuff him and put him in the back of your police car]]
[[Tell him that you dont care how cold it is, and to take his hands out of his pockets.]]
After you stop you police car in the middle of the road and get out, you walk towards the young man cautiously with your hand in reach of your pistol (for safety purposes). The young man has his hands in his pockets, as you approach him, what do you say?
[[Ask the young man if he minds if you pat him down for the safety of yourself and for the safety of him]]
[[Pull your gun and demand he take his hands out of his pockets]]
[[Ask him to take his hands out of his pockets one more time, and inform him that if he doesnt, you will have to cuff him and put him in the back of your police car for questioning.]]
As you ask the young man where he is heading to, he tells you that he just left his grandma Jo's house after housitting for her while she is visiting family in Florida. You ask the young man what his name is and how old he is. He tells you that his name is Devante Washington and he is 18 years old. As you are talking to the young man you notice his last name. You remember that there is a family on the East end of Detroit with the last name Washington. You have dealt with this family for many years because of their involvement in drugs, violence with gangs, and theft from local stores. Noticing that he is a ways away from home and that it is fairly late, what do you do?
[[Ask the young man if he minds if you pat him down for the safety of yourself and for the safety of him]]
[[Ask him if he minds if you pat him down for the safety of the both of you, and ask him if he can stop and allow you to ask a few more questions]]
[[Ask him if he is a Washington from the East end of the city, and tell him that you are going to need to ask him a few questions.]]
After you pull your gun on the young man to scare him, he takes hs hands out of his pockets with a scarce look on his face. Now that he has taken his hands out of his pockets, what do you do?
[[Ask the young man if he minds if you pat him down for the safety of yourself and for the safety of him.]]
[[Ask him if he minds if you pat him down for the safety of the both of you, and ask him if he can stop and allow you to ask a few more questions.]]
[[Tell him that you are going to pat him down for any drugs or weapons because you're a cop and you can do that.]]
After he takes his hands out of his pockets, you decide to question him anyways. Before questioning the young man, you decide its best for the safety of yourself and of the young man if you pat him for weapons and drugs. After patting him and finding nothing, you decide that there are some questions you have for the young man that you found walking down a back alley at almost three in the morning. You question him on where he was and where he is going, what his name is, and why he is out so late. After talking to the young man you are aware that he was housesitting for his grandmother who is vacationing, that he is 18 years old, and that his name is Devante Washington. You are very familiar with the Washington family and their involvement with drugs, violence, and theft. You then find yourself surprised that you did not find any weapons or drugs on his body since this situation is so different from those of his siblings that you have dealt with many times before.
After knowing some information about Devante and why he is out so late, and checking his person for any illegal activity, you decide to:
[[Ask Devante if he would like a ride home, since you know that the East end is a long walk from where he is and it is very cold and snowy tonight.]]
[[Tell Devante that he needs to go straight home because it is late and he doesn't need to be roaming the streets this hour of the night.]]
[[Tell Devante that he needs to get in the car because you are going to take him home right now so that you know he isnt out on the streets and cant harm anyone.]]
After the young man takes his hands out of his pockets, you approach him and tell him that he needs to stand up against the car. You then proceed to pat him down against the car and question him on where he is going and where he is coming from. He wont tell you any information about where he is coming from and where he is going. What do you do?
[[Tell him that you are a chief police officer and that you have a right to question him on anything that he is doing.]]
[[Tell the young man that if he doesnt comply and answer your questions that he is going to end up in the back on the police car. Explain to him that you dont want that so he needs to tell you what you want to know so he can go home and you can go back to patrolling.]]
[[Put hand cuffs on the young man, grab his wallet from his pocket to find a form of ID, and put him in the back of your police car.]]
After you pat him down, you dont find any drugs or weapons. You find his ID in his wallet on him, andd you find that he is 18 years old and his name is Devante. You then decide to tell Devante that he should head home, what do you do?
[[Tell Devante that he needs to get in the car because you are going to take him home right now so that you know he isnt out on the streets and cant harm anyone.]]
[[Ask Devante if he would like a ride home, since you know that the East end is a long walk from where he is and it is very cold and snowy tonight.]]
[[Tell Devante that he needs to go straight home because it is late and he doesn't need to be roaming the streets this hour of the night.]]
He then takes his hands out of his pockets and complies with your request to stand at the hood of the car facing you. You then decide that it is best if you pat him down for the safety of yourself and for the safety of him. You want to make sure he does not have drugs or illegal weapons on him. How do you approach the situation?
[[Ask him if he minds if you pat him down for the safety of the both of you, and ask him if he can stop and allow you to ask a few more questions.]]
[[Pat him down without warning him first, slap some cuffs on his wrists, and stick him in the back of your car so you can question him on where he is going and why he is out so late.]]
[[Tell him that you are a chief police officer and that you have a right to question him on anything that he is doing.]]
After you find no drugs on his person... you grab his wallet and find that he is identified as 18 years old and know that his name is Devante Washington. You have already questioned him on what he is doing out so late and where he is going, what do you do next?
[[Ask Devante if he would like a ride home, since you know that the East end is a long walk from where he is and it is very cold and snowy tonight.]]
[[Tell Devante that he needs to get in the car because you are going to take him home right now so that you know he isnt out on the streets and cant harm anyone.]]
[[Tell Devante that he needs to go straight home because it is late and he doesn't need to be roaming the streets this hour of the night.]]
After you find out that he is a Washington brother from the family that you have dealt with multiple times in your career, yu decide to question him on where he is going and where he has came from. You then decide to see if he has an illegal weapons on his person. How do you approach the situation?
[[Ask him if he minds if you pat him down for the safety of the both of you, and ask him if he can stop and allow you to ask a few more questions.]]
[[Ask the young man if he minds if you pat him down for the safety of yourself and for the safety of him]]
[[Tell him that you are going to pat him down for any drugs or weapons because you're a cop and you can do that.]]
Double-click this passage to edit it.
After you pat him down and find that he does not have any drugs or weapons on his person, you ask him where he is going and where he has come from. You find his ID in his wallet on him, and you find that he is 18 years old and his name is Devante Washington. You are aware of a family of Washingtons on the East end of Detriot that are known for drug dealing, violence and theft. He tells you that he is coming from his grandmother's house and that he is walking home right now. Because of his family name and the involvement his family is known to have in the city, what do you do?
[[Ask Devante if he would like a ride home, since you know that the East end is a long walk from where he is and it is very cold and snowy tonight.]]
[[Tell Devante that he needs to go straight home because it is late and he doesn't need to be roaming the streets this hour of the night.]]
[[Tell Devante that he needs to get in the car because you are going to take him home right now so that you know he isnt out on the streets and cant harm anyone.]]
After you pat the young man down, you find a wallet in his pocket and get it out for a form of ID. You then ask him why he is roaming the steets tonight and if he is performing any illegal activity. He will not answer any of your questions, what do you do?
[[Tell him that you are a chief police officer and that you have a right to question him on anything that he is doing.]]
[[Tell that if he doesnt answer you, that you will arrest him.]]
[[Pat him down without warning him first, slap some cuffs on his wrists, and stick him in the back of your car so you can question him]]
Congradulations! You have become an Ally!
You've helped to liberate everyone, including yourself...from oppression. Being an Ally is about listening, acting on what being an Ally entails, and to never stp educating yourself on oppression. Part of being a person of privledge and having a proclaimed identification is that you have a CHOICE, about whether or not you choose to be oppressive. You don't have a choice on if you are being oppressed, but you do have a choice on if you are oppressive. You do have a choice to be an Ally, and you chose to be one today! Choose to be an Ally each and every day that follows.
Dead end!!
You have maintained oppression by being oppressive. This will eventually result in you in the end becoming oppressed by the same system of oppression that you are supporting every day. Why is this? The levels of inequality and Personal level, Bigotry, Prejudice, Discrimination, and a structural level of oppression. Oppression is the main level of inequality we see through forms of sexism, racism, religionism, and ageism. When members of oppressing groups believe a certain message, its easy for them to see their privledge and deny that others are being oppressed. We need to divide and conquer oppression and together we can do this! By making society more aware and observant of oppressive behavior, and by becoming an Ally yourself, you are one step closer to ending oppression and creating liberation!
Dead end!!
You have maintained oppression by being oppressive. This will eventually result in you in the end becoming oppressed by the same system of oppression that you are supporting every day. Why is this? The levels of inequality and Personal level, Bigotry, Prejudice, Discrimination, and a structural level of oppression. Oppression is the main level of inequality we see through forms of sexism, racism, religionism, and ageism. When members of oppressing groups believe a certain message, its easy for them to see their privledge and deny that others are being oppressed. We need to divide and conquer oppression and together we can do this! By making society more aware and observant of oppressive behavior, and by becoming an Ally yourself, you are one step closer to ending oppression and creating liberation!
Dead end!!
There is no such thing as remaining neutral. Neutrality keeps privledge ad oppression invisible thereby maintaining these systems of oppression. By remaining neutral and not making a change in your views, we together can dominate oppression and oppressive behaviors. Instead of having a neutral view, try becoming an Ally and having the views of an Ally! Help change the world!
Dead end!!
There is no such thing as remaining neutral. Neutrality keeps privledge ad oppression invisible thereby maintaining these systems of oppression. By remaining neutral and not making a change in your views, we together can dominate oppression and oppressive behaviors. Instead of having a neutral view, try becoming an Ally and having the views of an Ally! Help change the world!
Dead end!!
You have maintained oppression by being oppressive. This will eventually result in you in the end becoming oppressed by the same system of oppression that you are supporting every day. Why is this? The levels of inequality and Personal level, Bigotry, Prejudice, Discrimination, and a structural level of oppression. Oppression is the main level of inequality we see through forms of sexism, racism, religionism, and ageism. When members of oppressing groups believe a certain message, its easy for them to see their privledge and deny that others are being oppressed. We need to divide and conquer oppression and together we can do this! By making society more aware and observant of oppressive behavior, and by becoming an Ally yourself, you are one step closer to ending oppression and creating liberation!
Dead end!!
You have maintained oppression by being oppressive. This will eventually result in you in the end becoming oppressed by the same system of oppression that you are supporting every day. Why is this? The levels of inequality and Personal level, Bigotry, Prejudice, Discrimination, and a structural level of oppression. Oppression is the main level of inequality we see through forms of sexism, racism, religionism, and ageism. When members of oppressing groups believe a certain message, its easy for them to see their privledge and deny that others are being oppressed. We need to divide and conquer oppression and together we can do this! By making society more aware and observant of oppressive behavior, and by becoming an Ally yourself, you are one step closer to ending oppression and creating liberation!
Dead end!!
There is no such thing as remaining neutral. Neutrality keeps privledge ad oppression invisible thereby maintaining these systems of oppression. By remaining neutral and not making a change in your views, we together can dominate oppression and oppressive behaviors. Instead of having a neutral view, try becoming an Ally and having the views of an Ally! Help change the world!
Dead end!!
You have maintained oppression by being oppressive. This will eventually result in you in the end becoming oppressed by the same system of oppression that you are supporting every day. Why is this? The levels of inequality and Personal level, Bigotry, Prejudice, Discrimination, and a structural level of oppression. Oppression is the main level of inequality we see through forms of sexism, racism, religionism, and ageism. When members of oppressing groups believe a certain message, its easy for them to see their privledge and deny that others are being oppressed. We need to divide and conquer oppression and together we can do this! By making society more aware and observant of oppressive behavior, and by becoming an Ally yourself, you are one step closer to ending oppression and creating liberation!